Speaking of narcissists

 

What a disgrace this megalomaniac is.

Make work for Melania

 Or should I say, grooming Melania.

I can remember when Republicans wet their pants because they thought Hillary Clinton had too much influence and positioning in Bill Clinton's presidency.

And yes, she's doing a bang-up job of it.

Add this to the recent "documentary" Bezos did for her.  Will she and Don Jr be competing in the 2028 primary?

BTW, this is in every narcissists playbook...

TACO

 

Iran attack, day 3

The war launched by the U.S. and Israel on Iran entered its third day with more Iranian missile attacks directed at Israel and its Arab neighbors as the U.S. military death toll climbed to four. The strikes have also killed at least 11 people in Israel, and the Iranian Red Crescent says 555 people have been killed in Iran.

Kuwait shot down three U.S. F-15s in what CENTCOM calls a "friendly fire incident," but all crewmembers were safe. Smoke rose, meanwhile, from the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait after an apparent Iranian missile strike.

Air travel is snarled as the war forces the closure of key hub airports in the Mideast, leaving tens of thousands of people stranded in the Gulf region — as the U.S. declines to join other countries planning to help evacuate their citizens.

President Trump said Sunday that the joint military operation would continue "until all of our objectives are achieved," and that could be "four weeks or less," but that more American casualties are possible.

[...]

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his administration was coordinating with its international partners to monitor events in Iran, calling it "important that this chance for change for Iran be used properly."

"The Iranian people have long effectively been alone against violence — against the Iranian regime. This regime, which has killed tens of thousands of its own citizens just in recent months, which has always fueled and organized wars in the region, which provided Russia with 'shaheds' [drones] and the technology for their production — this regime has brought this attitude upon itself," Zelenskyy said in a social media post.

"It is important that there be a clear position in support of people and human life," he added, offering his personal thanks to "everyone who is trying to prevent the war from expanding and who is defending against strikes from Iran."

"I also thank everyone who tells Russia — now, based on the experience of the Iranian regime — that justice does come," Zelenskyy said.

[...]

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters Monday that the four American service members who were killed over the weekend died when an incoming munition hit a tactical operations center in Kuwait.

"We have incredible air defenders. Every once in a while you might have one, unfortunately we call it a squirter, that makes its way through," he said. "And in that particular case, it happened to hit a tactical operations center that was fortified, but these are powerful weapons."

  CBS

You can just feel the compassion and empathy.  A squirter.

Hegseth was also asked about Mr. Trump's estimate that the conflict could last four to five weeks, and he attacked the reporter who posed the question, claiming it's a "gotcha-type question."

How? A bit touchy, Pete?

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine offered his "deepest and heartfelt condolences" to the families of the four U.S. service members killed during the joint U.S.-Israeli assault on Iran.

"They're heroes and represent the best our nation has to offer," Caine said.

Caine said it would "take some time to achieve" the objectives of the U.S. military operation, and he warned it was likely that more American lives would be lost.

No shit. But they will be a great deal fewer than Iranian civilians.

"Operations will remain active across the theater and across the globe," he said. "Operation Epic Fury stands as a reminder of what the United States military uniquely delivers: the ability to project power on a global scale with speed, surprise, precision and overwhelming force when and where our nation requires it."

Provided friendly fire doesn't continue.

And, the evergreen response Republicans make whenever the US attacks another country is brought to you this time by Representative Keith Self of Texas...

But that's not stopping Trumpists from claiming that very thing on national TV and in social media.

And because he was egged on by his administration lackeys and Netanyahu.

UPDATE 02:31 pm:

I suspect that's the mood in every US agency since Trump got back in the oval.

Epstein in New Mexico

This week, a New Mexico House Special Investigative Committee launched an investigation into Epstein’s Zorro ranch now owned by Texas businessman Don Huffines after learning of more criminality alleged in the files. Lawmakers also said residents of the Santa Fe community had long alleged crimes were being committed there and no state legislative investigation had been conducted.

[...]

After Epstein was indicted in 2005, campaign contributions he made to New Mexico Democrats were returned, including by former Gov. Bill Richardson and then attorney general candidate Gary King, Bruce King’s son, The Santa Fe New Mexican reported.

[...]

[King] said he would have prosecuted Epstein had he known crimes were committed at the ranch.

  The Cener Square

Sure, Jan.

No investigations were launched by his office when he served between Jan. 1, 2007, and Jan. 1, 2015.

Four years after King left office, New Mexico Land Office Commissioner Stephanie Garcia called for an investigation into “allegations that Epstein sexually abused and trafficked underage girls in New Mexico, with the Zorro Ranch at the heart of possible sex crimes.”

Garcia also canceled state lease agreements with the ranch dating to 1993.

[...]

Former New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas launched an investigation but was asked to halt it in July 2019 by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Maureen Comey, the daughter of former FBI director James Comey.

According to a Sept. 8, 2019, redacted email, her office said it “spoke with the New Mexico AG's office back in July 2019. In essence, they agreed to cease any investigation into sex trafficking and share whatever they had gathered to date regarding sex trafficking activity with our office. We agreed that they were free. To proceed with whatever other investigations unrelated to sex trafficking they may have concerning Epstein and told them that at the conclusion of our case, we would pass along any information we may have gathered about the state crimes that were committed in their jurisdiction.”

How'd that work out?

Her office said it was interviewing Epstein victims based on the information Balderas provided, according to an Oct. 11, 2019, email. In 2020, Balderas was still providing information. No charges were brought; no search warrants were issued to search Zorro ranch.

After the Epstein files were released, Garcia renewed her call for a state investigation and the New Mexico legislature launched its own investigation.

Good luck getting those federal files now.

Tell it to MAGA

 

Bobby won't be welcome in meat and potatoes country, will he?

DOGE will haunt us for decades

 

Typical Trumpism draws another lawsuit

Women working at Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey were required to wear tight uniforms that were too small and told to “smile more,” as they endured “sexist remarks about their bodies and menstruation,” according to two lawsuits by former employees.

[...]

Maria Hadley, a former banquet server who worked at the private club, owned by President Donald Trump, from February until she resigned in August, says she suffered from a retaliation campaign after she reported a manager who spiked the drink of an underage employee with vodka. And Justine Sacks, who was hired as clubhouse manager in 2023, says that she was demoted and ultimately fired in May for reporting health and safety violations, including maggots and mold in the soft-serve machine.

[...]

Male managers and coworkers harassed their female peers, and called teenage guests “sexy.” When a guest inappropriately touched Hadley, a manager advised “they pay a lot of money to come here, just ignore it.”

Hadley reported in June that a bartender poured vodka into the Shirley Temple of an underage employee without the employee’s consent, saying it would give her energy.

The bartender was temporarily fired, but the club’s management launched a retaliation campaign against Hadley.

[...]

Sacks joined Trump National in January 2023 and was told from the onset to expect “gender differences” in treatment.

[...]

Sacks was also retaliated against for reporting unsanitary conditions at the club’s kitchens, which included expired and unlabeled food, and the bistro operating without running water, the complaint says.

[...]

Management told Sacks that she was new to working at golf clubs and was “wrapped too tight” when she complained about the sanitation conditions, as well as employees drinking and vaping on the job. But even Eric Trump asked the club’s management team to make sanitation a “huge focus” because a few health inspectors are “eager and politically motivated to try and embarrass us,” according to a copy of an email sent by the executive vice president in January 2024.

The clubhouse’s bistro-area became more unsanitary, and by September 2024 the soft-serve machine was filled with maggots and mold, the suit says. [...] Sacks was placed on a 90-day performance improvement plan in December 2024 for, among other issues, being “off-putting."

[...]

Schutzenhofer terminated Sacks in May, the lawsuit says, shortly after the club “failed miserably” a state health inspection.

  Inquirer

War on Americans

 It's coming from inside the house.

Who gets to decide when the government AI-bots are ready to start killing people without direct human oversight—the Pentagon or the AI companies?

This remarkable—some might say insane—question is at the center of a major standoff between the Defense Department and Anthropic, creator of the AI platform known as Claude. While the Pentagon has contracts with all the leading AI labs, Anthropic until this month was the only one contracted for AI use in classified settings: Claude was, for instance, reportedly involved in the operation to capture Nicolas Maduro.

[...]

But Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has grown unhappy with two elements of the DoD’s contract with Anthropic. One, Anthropic won’t let its AI be used to conduct mass surveillance of Americans. Two, it won’t let the DoD use it to operate autonomous weapons systems that can identify, track, and kill targets without direct human involvement.

  The Bulwark

Can't wait for that one to go tits up and track Pete Hegseth. Like those cartoons where the heat-seeking missile turns around and follows Wile-E-Coyote unstead of the Roadrunner.

To the Defense Department, the idea that a contractor would be able to tie the military’s hands like this is outlandish; they should be permitted, they argue, to use AI they contract for “for all lawful purposes.”

Doesn't the Defense Department have its own AI platform? In the alternative, can't they use Elon's AI?

Hegseth could simply drop Anthropic’s contract over this, pivoting instead to any of the AI labs—OpenAI, Google Gemini, Elon Musk’s xAI—that aren’t insisting on these contractual sticking points. But he doesn’t really want to. After all, Claude is supposed to be the best, and at any rate it’s already integrated into lots of DoD systems. It’d be a hassle.

Hold fast, Claude.

Hegseth has issued Anthropic an ultimatum: Change your policy, or we’re going to start getting nasty.

Start?

The Defense Department is threatening to use the Defense Production Act to compel Anthropic to drop its usage requirements. Or it could go the exact opposite direction, declaring Anthropic a “supply chain risk”—which would not only eliminate DoD’s Anthropic contract, but also forbid any business that contracts with DoD from working with Anthropic in any way.

And...

The Trump administration on Friday ordered all U.S. agencies to stop using Anthropic’s artificial intelligence technology and imposed other major penalties, escalating an unusually public clash between the government and the company over AI safety [...] accusing it of endangering national security after CEO Dario Amodei refused to back down over concerns the company’s products could be used in ways that would violate its safeguards.

“We don’t need it, we don’t want it, and will not do business with them again!” Trump said on social media.

Hegseth also deemed the company a “supply chain risk,” a designation typically stamped on foreign adversaries that could derail the company’s critical partnerships with other businesses.

  AP News

Vengeful, despicable assholes.

I hear you, man.

In a statement issued Friday evening, Anthropic said it would challenge what it called an unprecedented and legally unsound action “never before publicly applied to an American company.”

Anthropic had said it sought narrow assurances from the Pentagon that its AI chatbot Claude would not be used for mass surveillance of Americans or in fully autonomous weapons. The Pentagon said it was not interested in such uses and would only deploy the technology in legal ways, but it also insisted on access without any limitations.

Kudos to Anthropic for not taking the figleaf "assurance".

“No amount of intimidation or punishment from the Department of War will change our position on mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons,” the company said. “We will challenge any supply chain risk designation in court.”

Too bad major institutions in this country did not take the same principled stance against Trump's attempted domination.

Anthropic can afford to lose the contract. But the government’s actions posed broader risks at the peak of the company’s meteoric rise from a little-known computer science research lab in San Francisco to one of the world’s most valuable startups.

[...]

Hours after its competitor was punished, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced on Friday night that his company struck a deal with the Pentagon to supply its AI to classified military networks, potentially filling a gap created by Anthropic’s ouster.

But Altman said that the same red lines that were the sticking point in Anthropic’s dispute with the Pentagon are now enshrined in OpenAI’s new partnership.

“Two of our most important safety principles are prohibitions on domestic mass surveillance and human responsibility for the use of force, including for autonomous weapon systems,” Altman wrote, adding that the Defense Department “agrees with these principles, reflects them in law and policy, and we put them into our agreement.”

  AP News

Let me guess. Altman was perfectly satisfied with DOD's "assurances".

Trump said Anthropic made a mistake trying to strong-arm the Pentagon. He wrote on Truth Social that most agencies must immediately stop using Anthropic’s AI but gave the Pentagon a six-month period to phase out the technology that is already embedded in military platforms.

“The United States of America will never allow a radical left, woke company to dictate how our great military fights and wins wars!” he wrote in all caps.

[...]

rump’s social media post said the company “better get their act together, and be helpful” during the phase-out period or there would be “major civil and criminal consequences to follow.”

So fucking sick of this asshole's ignorant rhetoric and petulant tantrums. And that's the least of our problems with him.

The president’s decision was preceded by hours of top Trump appointees from the Pentagon and the State Department taking to social media to criticize Anthropic, but their complaints posed contradictions.

Top Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Anthropic’s unwillingness to go along with the military’s demands was “jeopardizing critical military operations and potentially putting our warfighters at risk.” Hegseth said the Pentagon “must have full, unrestricted access to Anthropic’s models for every LAWFUL purpose in defense of the Republic.”

Yes, we've seen how this administration treats the law.

Hegseth’s choice to designate Anthropic a supply chain risk uses an administrative tool that has been designed for companies owned by U.S. adversaries to prevent them from selling products that are harmful to American interests.

Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, noted that this dynamic, “combined with inflammatory rhetoric attacking that company, raises serious concerns about whether national security decisions are being driven by careful analysis or political considerations.”

Gee, how could we possibly know?

The moves could benefit OpenAI’s ChatGPT as well as Elon Musk’s competing chatbot, Grok, which the Pentagon also plans to give access to classified military networks. It could serve as a warning to Google, which has a still-evolving contract to supply its AI tools to the military.

Grok has been so untainted by errors and horrors, so, good plans.

Musk sided with Trump’s administration, saying on his social media platform X that “Anthropic hates Western Civilization.”

JFC. MAGA mentality is killing us.

Retired Air Force Gen. Jack Shanahan, a former leader of the Pentagon’s AI initiatives, wrote on social media this week that the government “painting a bullseye on Anthropic garners spicy headlines, but everyone loses in the end.”

Shanahan said Claude is already being widely used across the government, including in classified settings, and Anthropic’s red lines were “reasonable.” He said the AI large language models that power chatbots like Claude, Grok and ChatGPT are also “not ready for prime time in national security settings,” particularly not for fully autonomous weapons.

What could possibly go wrong?

It's Sunday